Content identification systems for various data types, such as audio or video, use many different methods. A client device may capture a media sample recording of a media stream (such as radio), and may then request a server to perform a search in a database of media recordings (also known as media tracks) for a match to identify the media stream. For example, the sample recording may be passed to a content identification server module, which can perform content identification of the sample and return a result of the identification to the client device. A recognition result may then be displayed to a user on the client device or used for various follow-on services, such as purchasing or referencing related information. Other applications for content identification include broadcast monitoring or content-sensitive advertising, for example.
Existing content identification systems may require user interaction to initiate a content identification request. Often times, a user may initiate a request after a song has ended, for example, missing an opportunity to identify the song.
In addition, within content identification systems, a central server receives content identification requests from client devices and performs computational intensive procedures to identify content of the sample. A large number of requests can cause delays when providing results to client devices due to a limited number of servers available to perform a recognition.